The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-08-12
ouEe ruE cArekn,s

rativcs of Irving's Famous Legend
That great family of mountains cali
cd the Alleghanies has a home 100
miles wide and 1900 long. 1t reaches
from the eastern valley of ST. Law
renee river to the north line of Alaba-
ma. 1t is composed of a series of lofty
land waves with now and then a bill
low tossed into mountain peaks. The
Catskills are one county of this great
evolution of rock and fire.
They stand ten or twelve miles from
the Hudson river, these toy Alps of the
AIleghanies, for they are distinguished
from the greater part of the mighty
range to which they belong by their
Swiss-like peaks and dizzy cliffs.
1t was for a while thought that these
mountains contained large measures. of
coal but this was found tC De a mistake,
and they became a gold mine filed
with precious metal for the intellect
and the heart, spangled with dreams
and legends, interspersed with natural
landscape gardens and rich with OBJ
servatories, from which can be seen the
emerald jewelry of several different
states.
As our Hudson river craft came yes
terday, in sight of the blue ranges that
smiled at us q few miles in the distance
1t was evident that there was trouble in
the Catskills. The ghosts of the Dutch
tenpin- players who walk through every
visitors fancy were having one of their
most brilliant games and making a
ten-strike every half minute. The tops
of the mountains were being lombard
ed with shafts of fire. Fleet after fleet
of bl~ue-iagged thunder-clouds cam
sailing toward US out of the western
country. A wall of white fell in a sec
ond between us and the mystery land
for which we were bound. When we
landed at Catskill it was in a flying
lake of showers, and we were glad that
the old stage line of twelve miles and a
few years ago had been presented to
the past and q new stage line establish
ed, composed of glistening iron steeds
and comfortable railroad coaches. Safe
and dry and peering between gems of
raindrops upon the car-windows, we
rumbled through and out of the modern
villege of Catskill. We passed in the
distance the little Dutch hamlet of
Leeds, which Young America called
ancient" because il is two hundred
years old. We left upon our right a
manor house that is haunted by a ghost
with a halter about his neck. We caught
glimpses of Catskill creek, sift ng its
liquid silver down over the rocks, and
at last halted at q wayside roilroad de-
pot and found horse coaches waiting to
climb with us four miles and q half up
the mountain.
Here is a toll-gate-for perpendicu-
lar turnpikes are not a product Of ma
ture, and it costs money to build them.
The old valley nountaineer who guards
the pass takes 80 cents from the driver
of a team and 5 cents from any passen-
yea who may have use for a few pods
we'll filled with peanut kernels. He is,
also, he says, Coin TO put in a few
soft drinks for them that wants 'em
this summer" He is as gray as one of
the mountain rocks, and, / suppose, Al
abstemious, for he claims to be a life
long foe to the liquid that drugged and
immortalized the famous Van Wrinkle.
Having passed safely through this
portal, u coach horses began there
weary climb.
A mile and a half up the road we
came to a frame building two and q
half stories tall. BY the side of 1t was
p little hut of a saloon. what is this!
we asked of the driver.
rip House, said the driver, pre-
pairing to give the eager colonel a
drink. place where Rip Van Wrinkle
slept for twenty years. You'll see the
rock he slep' on-just up back O the
house thar
The proprietor of the establishment
now came to the door, and looked 50
full of information concerning the al
fair that / am not ashamed to say that
| went down the next morning on pur-
pose to ask him about it. He is a dark
man. with large, strong mustache, and
a deep, convincing voice. He was al
ready engaged in conversation with 2
sad-looking man from New Jersey. and
had nothing to do but sip a lo-cent
glass of lemonade and listen.
Yer see,f' the proprietor was say
ing, .'this Van Wrinkle used to live
down here TO CatskiIl. He was con-
sid'ble on the hunt, an he come up
that valley down there one day an met
a lot o. Dutch fairies, with whisky kegs,
an offered to help 'em-bein' OF a k nd
disposition to everybody but his own
folks-an' they give him 2 drfik' an
he clint up on to that rock an slep
there twenty year in one nap. Fore
be turned in he hitched his dorg to that
tree thar. An the tree it growed an
it growed, an when he woke up there
was nothin' left o. the dorg but a
bunch o. bones an a string. An there's
49, 9pA.,o mara corfainlv